Deacon was already fighting off panic when Nora had ninja'd the med-x into him, and that didn't exactly reinforce the trust he had in her.
He knew he was being a lousy patient. He had agreed to take the pain medication not so much for his comfort but for Nora's. She was trying to be encouraging but he could tell she was terrified.
Not that he wasn't terrified enough on his own. He wasn't lying about being able to handle physical pain. Pain was just that...pain. Whether he healed or died, it would eventually have an end. No, what terrified him was not being in complete control of his mental faculties. Even when he was in the midst of his "young and stupid" phase, he never liked being high. The world was a dark, ugly, dangerous place and he never wanted anything that would hinder his perception or reflexes.
Yet, here he was, shirtless, drugged, and being held down by a Brotherhood Knight while two women prepared to cut him open. He had kept most of the panic away, but hearing Nora explain to Haylen what she needed to do sent him back to the edge.
"...large bore needle and catheter" she was saying. Of COURSE he'd tune back in for that little gem. "You want to go in just above his third rib."
Nora was trying to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere, and he was trying to focus on her. It worked for a brief moment, but suddenly his heart was pounding again. Nora was now pleading with him, but he was too far gone for that to help.
"Please, just a minute" he said again. Hearing the term "large bore needle" twice in the last few minutes was not exactly ideal, and he could tell that he was slurring his words, another reminder that he was chem'd up. "Give me just a minute."
"No can do, man," Rhys interjected as he adjusted his grip on Deacon's arms so that he essentially had a vice grip on both of Deacon's hands. "You heard the lady. We go ahead and just do this before that stuff wears off and we need to give you another dose. For now, I want you to squeeze my hands as tight as you need to. I don't care if you break my hands, but you take the pain out on me, not them. Besides, last time Haylen had to patch me up, she threatened to shoot me if I didn't stop squirming. Just fair warning."
Fine, Deacon thought. For some reason, the threat of violence, even in a joking manner, was what enabled him to flip the switch. Time to let the smartass out. If he had to do this, maybe at least he had the possibility of dying while making people laugh.
"Fine. Fine. But this is getting a little kinky, isn't it? I mean, we just met. You should at least buy me dinner, right?" Deacon quipped.
He heard Rhys suppress a snort before he replied. "I'll work on getting you dinner afterwards."
"There's the Deacon we all know and love " Nora said, giving his shoulder a squeeze. Then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek, a move that left him momentarily speechless.
"We'll get this over with quickly. I promise." Nora whispered in his ear before she straightened back up.